Twenty-seventh Sunday after Pentecost
November 16, 2008
The Rev. Charles Henrickson
“Talents on Loan from God” (Matthew 25:14-30)
“Talent on loan from God.” So proclaims a certain radio host. At first, it
sounds like he’s bragging about himself, as though he’s “oh so talented.” Of
course, he’s speaking tongue-in-cheek, to play with his image. But as he
himself explains in a more serious vein, to say, “talent on loan from God,” is
really saying something about God, namely, that whatever talent we have is a
gift from God, on loan from God, and thus any credit or glory goes ultimately
to God.
That is very true. And that message comes through loud and clear in our text
for today, the Parable of the Talents, from Matthew 25. You and I have been
gifted by God with varying talents and abilities, to be used faithfully for
God’s purposes, and any credit or glory belongs to our gracious God. You and I
are stewards, entrusted with “Talents on Loan from God.”
The Parable of the Talents makes up the middle part of Matthew 25. Last week
from this same chapter we heard the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins,
and next week it will be the Sheep and the Goats. Each of these texts tells us
something about the kingdom of heaven in relation to the Second Coming of
Christ. Last week, in the Parable of the Virgins, the point was to be ready
for Christ’s return, whenever he may come, even if there’s a long wait. Today,
the Parable of the Talents makes the further point that, while we are waiting,
there are things for us to do. It is not just an idle waiting. No, our master
gives each of us talents to use for his purposes, which we are to make the most
of, while we are waiting. You and I have talents on loan from God. Therefore,
let us use them.
The parable picks up right where last week’s left off, depicting what the
kingdom of heaven will be like as we wait for Christ’s return: “For it will be
like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them
his property.” This is a picture of the church in the time between Christ’s
ascension and his second coming. It is a picture of now. Our Lord and Master
Jesus Christ has entrusted his disciples with his property, his goods, his
possessions. Right away this sets the story in the realm of stewardship. What
Christ has entrusted us with are his belongings, not ours. They are on loan to
us his servants, to be used according to our master’s wishes. The idea of
stewardship is that all this stuff we have is not ours. It belongs to our
master. We are his stewards, managing the resources he entrusts to us. And
what is required of a steward is that he be faithful.
“To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according
to his ability.” Notice that in this parable the amounts entrusted to the
servants vary. Some have been given more than others. This tells us that here
we are not talking about the basic and fundamental gift of salvation, since
that is the same for each and every one of us alike. Rather, we are talking
about the various gifts and abilities and opportunities that God gives us,
since those do indeed vary. They are not the same for every Christian. For
every St. Paul or Martin Luther, men of enormous talent, undaunted courage,
intellectual brilliance, and historic opportunity--for every
once-in-a-millennium saint like that, there are thousands of unsung ordinary
saints who may not have the same “gift set” as those “superheroes of the
faith,” but who nonetheless are called to faithfulness in their use of the
gifts that God has given them. That’s you and me,
my fellow servants of the giving Master.
Here we want to avoid two extremes. On the one hand, don’t overestimate the
gifts God has given you, as though you are some indispensible pillar of the
church that the church just cannot survive without. That’s pride. On the
other hand, don’t underestimate the gifts and abilities God has given you,
either. That’s a false and excessive humility. Listen, you do have things you
can contribute to the life of the church, according to your calling. You may
not think it’s much, but God has gifted you the way he has so that you can use
your gifts in the service of his kingdom. Yes, he has. Little things can mean
a lot. What matters is that you are faithful.
How has God gifted you? God has things for you to do with those gifts. Are
you a child? God wants you to develop your talents in an all-around way--your
mind, your body, your knowledge of the Bible and the Christian faith--so you
can live out a life of service to your fullest potential. And even now, you
can help out in home and church and school, showing the love of Jesus in how
you live toward others. Are you a father or a mother? You have been given the
gift of children, entrusted to your care. What higher stewardship can there
be? You fathers, you have the calling and the duty to teach your children the
Word of God--yes, fathers, that is primarily your responsibility, to raise up
your children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. That’s your #1
job. My calling is to help you do that. You seasoned saints, those of you
with a little more free time on your hands: God is not finished with you yet.
Not by a long shot. You have
years of wisdom and experience to draw on. You have skill sets acquired
through life that can be used in God’s service, in the many tasks to be done in
the local church.
All of us, together, make up the body of Christ. And just as in the human
body, where we need all parts doing their job--the toenail and armpit, as well
as the eyes and ears and mouth--so also in the church we need all hands on
deck, each doing his part, large or small, for the body to function to its
fullest.
So Christ gives us gifts that vary--“talents,” to return to the imagery of the
story. You know, we use the word “talents” to mean the gifts and abilities and
skills that people have, things they can do. But in this parable, the term
“talents” refers to money. A “talent” was a unit of money. So let us not
forget that the “talents” we can use for the work of the kingdom include, yes,
our money, that stuff in your bank account and pocketbook. Those financial
resources are gifts from God--he gives us the ability to earn our money, after
all--and our money likewise can be put to good use for God’s kingdom through
the work of the church. Your money doesn’t belong to you, really. It belongs
to God--all of it, 100%. Now some of it, of course, you need for food and
shelter and clothing, for you and your family. Beyond that, though, some of
the money God entrusts to you can be put to use for the church’s ministry. To
help the
poor and needy. To support the preaching of the Word and the administration
of the sacraments here in this congregation. To spread the gospel far and wide
through the various mission and ministry efforts we support in the church at
large. Yes, your talents include your dollars, which are not really yours but
God’s, entrusted to you to use wisely and faithfully, to extend God’s kingdom.
Well, let’s cut to the chase. A couple of the servants put their talents to
work, earning more in the process. They don’t end up with the same amount,
since they didn’t have an equal amount to start with. But they were equally
faithful with whatever amount they had been given. However, there was this one
guy who spoils the story. He doesn’t do anything with the talent he was given.
He hides his master’s money, digs a hole and buries it.
Now the master returns. The faithful servants, the faithful stewards, report
in, telling the master how they had put his money to work. The master’s
response, in each case? “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been
faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your
master.” Here we see a most gracious and generous master. It was his grace
and generosity in the first place that gave them anything to work with. It was
his money they were managing, not their own. So it is for us. The talents and
abilities we have, we realize come from God’s gracious hand. “He has given me
my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses,
and still takes care of them.”
Then, on top of that, our gracious God has redeemed us in Christ to “live under
him in his kingdom and serve him.” More grace! Christ’s holy precious blood
has purchased and won us from all sins, from death, and from the power of the
devil. The cleansing water of baptism has brought us into Christ’s church and
given us the Spirit to live and work for his kingdom. Grace upon grace! And
when Christ returns at the Last Day, the fact that he will actually commend us,
saying, “Well done,” and calling us “good and faithful”? Wow, that can only be
by God’s grace! For I know, when I look at my stewardship--my stewardship of
time and talents and treasures--I haven’t always “done well.” I have been
wasteful and selfish, not always so “good and faithful.” So these are rewards
of grace, pure grace, Christ will award us when he welcomes us into his eternal
joy. You and I would have no reward at all, were it not for the
unfathomable forgiveness God graciously bestows upon us for Christ’s sake.
And yet he does! That is what is so wonderful, isn’t it? The grace of God in
Christ, to entrust us with any kind of a stewardship in the first place, and
then, amazingly, to reward us by his grace, in spite of our many failures.
What a gracious Lord we have!
And so the one guy who buries his talent and doesn’t do anything with it--it is
his unbelief that damns him. There was no living faith there, for faith always
produces its fruits. This is truly a case of, “Faith without works is dead.”
The wicked and slothful servant had the wrong belief about his master. He
insulted and assailed the very character of God, revealing his unbelief.
But thank God, you and I know our Lord to be a good and gracious master, a most
generous Lord. He has gifted us with talents in abundance, each of us with the
right amount for who he wants us to be and what he wants us to do. Whatever
your talents--your natural gifts and abilities, your acquired skills, the
opportunities God sets before you for love and service, yes, including your
money--these are the talents you can put to use in God’s kingdom to do his
work. We do this individually, and we do it collectively as church. It is
required of a steward that he be faithful. Through these means of grace, the
Word and the Sacraments, your faith is being strengthened, and that in turn
will strengthen your faithfulness. To be a faithful steward, you need the
ongoing forgiveness of God to pick you up when you fail, and you need the
continued strengthening that only comes through the ministry of the gospel in
the church. These too are God’s gifts to you
to help you be the faithful steward God wants you to be.
Grace upon grace upon grace! Until our Lord returns, he will strengthen you
for his service and stewardship, so that you will faithfully use your “Talents
on Loan from God.” And when our Lord returns, he will commend you and welcome
you into his unimaginable and unending joy. “Glory Alone to God!”
Charles Henrickson
4749 Melissa Jo Ln
St. Louis, MO 63128
(314) 845-8811 (home)
(314) 779-8108 (cell)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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